When state and local officials were trying to lure the National Governors Association's 2013 convention to Milwaukee, they wined and dined the association's selection committee at the lakefront Harbor House restaurant - where the view includes the nearby Milwaukee Art Museum.

Three months later, Gov. Scott Walker told reporters gathered at the museum that the group had picked Milwaukee. Once again, the art museum's 10-year-old addition, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, had helped sell the city as a destination.

The museum and surrounding lakefront are typically "first on the list" of local attractions when meeting planners visit Milwaukee to consider it as a prospective convention site, said Paul Upchurch, president and chief executive officer of Visit Milwaukee, the public-private agency that markets the Milwaukee area for conventions and tourism.

"When people see it, they fall in love with the city," Upchurch said.

The Calatrava addition, with its distinctive wings that form the Burke Brise Soleil, a movable sunscreen; gleaming, white exterior; and ship's prow motif, also is the centerpiece of Visit Milwaukee's official logo.

That logo shows up on street signs that greet visitors, as well as on the group's website and letterhead.

"It's a symbol of the city," Upchurch said. "When people see it, it instantly reminds them of Milwaukee because it's such a unique building."

The Calatrava addition, officially known as the Quadracci Pavilion, also has received a lot of outside media exposure.

That includes photos and mentions in many travel articles; serving as a backdrop for commercials; a brief scene in this summer's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" movie; and this season's "American Idol" television series, where judges Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson reviewed auditions in the pavilion's atrium - with Lake Michigan in the background.

An image that ties the sleek, postmodern museum to Milwaukee is a powerful branding tool that some competing cities lack, Upchurch said. Like St. Louis, with its Gateway Arch, Milwaukee has an advantage over cities such as Indianapolis or Minneapolis, he said.

"They struggle a little bit" to define their image, Upchurch said.

Indeed, Meet Minneapolis, that city's convention and visitors association, is in the middle of creating a new branding effort, said Kristen Montag, marketing and communications manager.

Past efforts have come and gone, she said, and "we haven't had one that really stuck."

And Minneapolis doesn't have one distinctive building that the city uses to market itself, Montag said. She said possible candidates for that role would include the IDS Center, the city's tallest building that served as a backdrop in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and Foshay Tower, a former 1920s-era office tower - modeled after the Washington Monument - that in 2008 was converted into a luxury hotel.

Perhaps the city's most recognizable symbol is the Spoonbridge and Cherry, a pop art fixture at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Montag said.

Still, there's no consensus for just one physical feature as the Minneapolis icon. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, she said.

"They're all great in their own way," Montag said.

Indeed, when the National Governors Association picked Milwaukee for its 2013 annual meeting, the group's officials didn't single out the art museum as playing a role in that decision. Instead, the association cited Milwaukee's hotels, meeting facilities and the city's "overall appeal."

"While several venues and attractions were mentioned for possible social events, none played a more important role than others in the process," said Jodi Omear, director for the association's office of communications.

But, at the group's website, news of the Milwaukee selection features a photo of the city's lakefront, with the Calatrava addition front and center.

And for Upchurch, the view from Harbor House was among the main images he wanted the association's officials to remember when it was time to make a decision.

"I was confident as they saw Milwaukee, they'd realize what a phenomenal city it was," he said.

About Tom Daykin

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